Humanity Multiplies
Human evil has become total, and our Father grieves that he made people at all. Rather than a distant verdict, he speaks to one man: exact ark measurements, a promised covenant, and pairs of every creature. Noah does everything as told.
6 1When humanity began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of divine origin saw the daughters of human origin were beautiful, and took as wives any they chose. a a v2 The verse pairs two categories of beings — those of divine origin and those of human origin — and names a boundary being crossed between them. Christian readers have understood the divine-origin beings either as heavenly beings or as the godly line of Seth; both readings rest on the same point the verse makes about origin.
3Then our Father said, "My Spirit will not wrestle with humanity forever, for they are flesh; their days will be 120 years."
4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and afterward too, when the sons of divine origin came to the daughters of human origin, who bore them children. These were the mighty men of old, men of renown. b b v4 The pairing of v.2 continues here — beings of divine origin joined with beings of human origin — the union from which the Nephilim came. The verse keeps its focus on that boundary between the two categories.
5Our Father saw how great human wickedness had become on the earth—every thought and desire of their hearts only evil all the time. 6He was grieved he had made humanity on the earth, and his heart filled with pain. c c v6 Our Father's heart breaks when his children turn against him. This is the first time scripture shows our Father grieving — not detached judgment, but a Father whose heart aches over his lost children.
7So our Father said, "I will wipe out humanity, whom I created, from the face of the earth—people, animals, crawling things, and birds of the sky—for I regret making them."
8But Noah found favor in the eyes of our Father.
9This is Noah's account. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and Noah walked faithfully with our Father.
Shem, Ham, and Japheth
10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11The earth was corrupt before our Father, and filled with violence. 12Our Father saw the earth was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their ways on the earth.
13Then our Father said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is full of violence because of the people. I am going to destroy them with the earth. 14Build yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it inside and out with pitch. d d v14 Pitch was a tar-like substance brushed over the wood to seal the ark and keep the water out. 15Make it like this: the ark about 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, forty-five feet high. 16Make a roof for the ark, finishing it eighteen inches from the top. Put a door in its side, and build it with lower, middle, and upper decks. 17I myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth to destroy all flesh with the breath of life in it under the heavens; everything on the earth will die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19Bring two of every living creature into the ark to keep alive with you—a male and a female. 20Of the birds by kind, the animals by kind, every crawling thing of the ground by kind, two of each will come to you to be kept alive. 21Take every kind of food that can be eaten and store it up; it will be food for you and for them."
22Noah did everything just as our Father commanded him.
